With a cackling roar that shook the void, the expanse of the heavens seemed to tremble under the assault of that sound. The Monkey smashed the illusory mist formed by Jin Ruyi’s transformation with a single strike, piercing straight through the colorful vapor. That viscous mist clung to the Monkey like glue, trailing a wisp of the faintest, thinnest fog from every one of his hairs, stretching far into the emptiness.

The three flying daggers struck the Monkey, only sparking against him. The blades could not withstand his iron sinews and shattered into specks of firelight, instantly igniting the clinging mist. The mist exploded with a whoomph upon catching fire, bathing the Monkey in flames.

The fire was a viscous, bluish-red, like molten glaze, emitting a melodious sound as it burned, carrying with it a heavy, rich fragrance. Countless desires surged forth from the flames, maniacally assailing the Monkey. Lust, anger, sorrow, joy, wine, sex, wealth, and ambition—all manner of demonic entities transformed into formless, colorless mental force, surging toward the Monkey like a rolling tide, burrowing deep into his Zifu Sea of Consciousness.

The Monkey’s body froze; the Five Great Ming Kings immediately advanced, brandishing their weapons. Then came a delicate, sweet murmur. The five fiercely tyrannical manifestations of the Ming Kings, whose power could annihilate heaven and earth, suddenly transformed into five naked beauties of multicolored skin—red, yellow, green, white, and blue.

They stretched out their jade arms and long legs, entwining themselves around the Monkey. Five spiritual tongues darted over his body, licking until every single one of the Monkey’s hairs was damp and sticky. These five women enacted the forms of Celestial Demons upon the Monkey, unleashing boundless, seductive, evil power that erupted, forming a massive vortex that sucked the Monkey’s entire being inward.

The Monkey squawked in distress. This was the most venomous and potent technique of the Brahmanical Demonic Arts, specializing in destroying a practitioner’s foundation and ruining their cultivation. In ages past, the Buddha sat beneath the Bodhi Tree, and Brahmanical beauties transformed into seductive forms danced before him; only through immense willpower and perseverance did the Buddha subdue them, ultimately attaining enlightenment.

Now, the Monkey’s cultivation and magical power were far inferior to that of the ancient Buddha. Moreover, this mind-confusing demonic technique was being wielded jointly by Bai Shui and the other two, each of whom possessed cultivation vastly superior to the Monkey’s. Even though the Monkey possessed a firmly established Dao Heart, as steadfast as an ancient pine on a sheer cliff enduring the wind and rain, this attack was like a great flood capable of submerging the entire world.

The Monkey’s Dao Heart was on the brink of collapse. Watching from the sidelines, Yang Jian roared, “Shameless beyond measure!” and slashed his blade from a distance toward the five-colored beauties ensnaring the Monkey. But the Brahmanical secret arts excelled at bewildering the mind; illusions of every kind multiplied endlessly.

As Yang Jian’s blade cleaved down, only ten broken logs flew up from the spot where the beauties stood. The Monkey, trapped by the five-colored women, had long since been dragged far away. In the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness, a golden Buddha image, a sarira hovering above its head, sat cross-legged.

Countless demons attacked furiously from all sides. The sarira’s light had dimmed, flickering precariously, and the golden Buddha was losing its stable posture, nearly rising several times. If it stood up, the external desires would rush in, instantly incinerating the Monkey’s Dao Foundation and causing his cultivation to drain away like flowing water.

Just as the Monkey was about to collapse and face defeat, Gu Xie Chen’s voice suddenly rang out directly within the Monkey’s divine soul. “Use every ounce of your strength to entangle these four fellows.” A small, exquisite, golden, luminous pagoda, shrunk a thousand times smaller than a flea, suddenly appeared in the hand of the golden Buddha formed by the Monkey’s divine soul. A gentle, pure, supreme might, like the warm sunlight of the early spring, poured from the pagoda into the Monkey’s soul.

His soul, already agitated by rampant desire, instantly cleared, and the golden Buddha sat firmly cross-legged in the void once more. The Monkey started in shock. He looked down at the tiny pagoda in his palm, several times smaller than a speck of dust, and nearly cried out in disbelief.

The Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda—the foundational treasure of the Supreme Elder Lord, the head of the Three Pure Ones! A pagoda protecting the body, warding off all evils and deflecting all techniques; it was the most renowned item of defiance in the Three Realms. With this treasure protecting him, one was already established in an unassailable position.

“This pagoda is fated with you. All its restrictions have been broken, specifically for the achievements of this day. Quickly refine it and entangle all four of them!” Gu Xie Chen’s voice sounded again.

The Monkey rolled his eyes heavenward. The foundational treasure of the Supreme Elder Lord, the head of the Three Pure Ones, fated with him? Everyone knew that old master was the most stingy; taking a few gourds of his elixirs could lead to entanglement for a lifetime.

If he refined his foundational treasure… Wait. The Monkey suddenly realized: the Three Pure Ones had left this universe long ago. For the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda to fall into Gu Xie Chen’s hands, and then into his own, that was fate.

When destiny arrives and a supreme treasure chooses its master, refusing it would surely invite heavenly wrath! The Monkey, whose nature feared neither heaven nor earth, laughed three times toward the sky. He punched his own golden Buddha, spitting out a gush of golden blood.

He split three-tenths of his soul’s origin and injected it into the empty Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, whose restrictions were completely open. Gu Xie Chen had seized the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda from the Mother God of Romance, Ai Luo, ten thousand years prior. He had spent eons repeatedly washing and refining it with the Haotian Pagoda, but he could not discern any hidden secrets, which was why he now offered it to the Monkey.

This supreme treasure was scaldingly hot; Gu Xie Chen himself preferred not to be entangled with it further. Gifting it to the Monkey was truly a fitting arrangement. The Monkey had formidable backing; should this pagoda cause any future complications, the Monkey’s backer could deal with the ensuing conflict, allowing Gu Xie Chen to enjoy the show.

The Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda proved worthy of being one of the supreme innate treasures of the universe. As soon as the Monkey began refining it, a column of yellow energy shot skyward. From the Monkey’s golden Buddha, a golden-furred Golden Ape, roaring savagely, leaped into the sky.

Harnessing a thread of supreme principle from the Dao that fed back upon controlling the pagoda, the Monkey easily manifested his First Corpse. In an instant, his cultivation soared a hundredfold. The dimly lit sarira in the void shone with brilliant white light, illuminating ten thousand miles.

Countless demons about to pounce on the Monkey’s soul were instantly pulverized into dust by the white light emanating from the sarira. Gu Xie Chen had shrunk the Exquisite Pagoda so small when giving it to the Monkey, but the Monkey proved even more cunning. He immediately merged the pagoda into his divine soul.

Wisps of Profound Yellow energy in the void transformed into silken golden light, draping down to firmly protect his divine soul and the primordial spirit of his First Corpse, shielding them flawlessly. No matter how many demonic desires surged from the outside world, the Monkey’s divine soul remained smiling and unmoving. The First Corpse Primordial Spirit, the Golden Ape just manifested, represented the most ferocious and tyrannical aspects of the Monkey’s nature.

With the Golden Ape’s appearance, boundless killing intent erupted within the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness. Black, inky killing intent transformed into a tangible, raging tide sweeping across everything, turning his Sea of Consciousness upside down. The Golden Ape let out a sinister cackle, bowing to the surrounding void.

Its hands moved like lightning, wildly casting countless restrictions in all directions. Vast stretches of Bodhi forest sprang up within the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness, and great mountain ranges materialized from the flat ground. This was the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness, his Zifu.

Wherever his mental force extended, everything transformed according to his will. Indeed, wherever the Monkey’s mind traveled, pagodas bearing sariras of various heights spontaneously emerged within the Bodhi forest. From the exquisitely designed pagodas, white energy shot up like pillars toward the high heavens, supporting sariras of differing sizes—some gold, some white, some the color of glaze—emitting ten thousand rays of light that illuminated the entire Sea of Consciousness.

Wherever the Buddha light shone, the numerous demons cried out in agony and dissolved into nothingness. Countless Buddhist cultivators—Arhats, Heavenly Kings, and others—manifested within the Bodhi forest. They sat cross-legged around the pagodas, devoutly chanting sutras, accompanied by fierce tigers, giant pythons, great apes, and colossal rocs quietly listening to the teachings.

The immense power of faith transformed into boundless light, illuminating all directions, causing the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness to resemble a place dotted with hundreds of suns, turning the vast sea into a transparent crystal radiating intense light. In the mountain ranges, countless strange flowers and exotic grasses sprouted. White cranes danced in the void, and celestial dragons moved gracefully.

Vast swathes of purple energy and rosy mist jetted from the mountain peaks, within which countless celestial treasures flew and tumbled. Palaces and pavilions, whether exquisite, grand, magnificent, or rustic, but each line crafted with effortless, natural perfection, rose up both inside and outside the mountain ranges. Immortals riding on clouds emerged from them, while countless others practiced Qi absorption and wielded various arcane arts among the peaks.

Rosy mist and purple light shot straight to the ninth heaven, turning the void into day. The Buddha light and the celestial mist merged in the center of the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness, forming a hazy, nine-layered, purple-gold banner that subtly covered the entire sea. This banner was adorned with various auspicious artifacts—Ruyi scepters, swords, pearls, and sariras—and vast beams of light spilled down, transforming into countless golden lotuses that descended into the Bodhi forest and the clusters of palaces.

Beneath the banner, the Monkey’s own primordial spirit—the First Corpse—sat cross-legged, baring his teeth, wielding a pitch-black staff, and ferociously confronting the surrounding demons. In the blink of an eye, the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness had transformed into a wondrous paradise of both Buddhist and Daoist immortal realms. As the Golden Ape of the First Corpse Spirit wildly roared and brandished his thick staff, the Buddha light and celestial mist in the void coalesced into a massive vortex, firmly sucking in the myriad demons, drawing them relentlessly toward the center of the vortex—the purple-gold banner.

The Monkey’s original divine soul, in the form of the Buddha’s golden body, sat atop the banner, slowly chanting the Demon Subduing Sutra. Golden lotuses spewed from his mouth, scattering outward, causing the drawn-in demons to shriek miserably, billowing thick smoke and dark energy. Their forms visibly shrank under the Buddha light and the celestial mist.

Occasionally, a few exceptionally powerful demons still struggled within the mist; the Golden Ape beneath the banner gleefully swung his great staff, smashing them into pieces. Countless golden lotuses, carrying faint traces of Buddha light and immortal flames, swept over them, ensuring these shattered demons could not escape annihilation. All these demons were projections of the mental essence of Bai Shui, Han He, and Zheng Yi Zhang, the Daoists, formed by their inner demonic thoughts within the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness.

Now, by forcibly trapping all the demons with his great divine ability of dual cultivation in Buddhism and Daoism, the Monkey had effectively imprisoned the four old Daoists within his own Sea of Consciousness. Zheng Yi and Zhang roared simultaneously. In their view, the Monkey was courting death!

Each of the four Daoists had achieved the cultivation level of High-Grade Daluo Golden Immortal, their magical power trillions of times stronger than the Monkey’s; their Brahmanical Demonic Arts were perfected to the point of formlessness and subtlety, capable of destroying a primordial spirit without a trace. For the Monkey to dare trap a portion of their mental essence and primordial spirits within his own Sea of Consciousness was truly suicidal! To assault the Monkey’s innate primordial spirit simultaneously—how could that not easily destroy it?

True Lord Han He sneered. The primordial spirits and mental powers of all four surged into the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness. Since they couldn't break free immediately, they decided to commit their full force to a direct assault, destroying every trace of the Monkey’s existence in the fastest, most direct manner possible.

Little Zhang Daoist was the most cautious. He feared that while the four focused their combined attack on the Monkey, the delay might allow Gu Xie Chen and the others time to strike their physical bodies. Therefore, he chanted his Daoist title loudly, and his Glazed Pagoda sprayed out vast amounts of golden powder.

The tens of thousands of immortals from Kunlun and Zhongnan materialized their Dharmic Manifestations from the golden powder, stepping onto clouds to form a profound formation that shielded the four Daoists’ main bodies. The cultivation of these Kunlun and Zhongnan immortals was formidable. Having cultivated the Brahmanical ascetic demonic arts centered on self-sacrifice, the lowest among them had reached the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm.

Among them were three thousand Daluo Golden Immortals, possessing power strong enough to shake the Three Realms. Furthermore, having practiced the Brahmanical arts, the illusions and demonic techniques of these immortals had become marvelously effective. While they might not match the grandeur of Daoist or Buddhist techniques, their devious transformations were several times stronger than those conventional arts.

Adding to this, Vishnu had bestowed upon the immortals of both sects countless rare weapons forged from the finest materials, granting them an additional measure of combat prowess. The appearance of over a hundred thousand immortals created an incomparably grand spectacle. Tens of thousands of immortals simultaneously unleashed various illusions: millions of gods, Buddhas, holy beings, celestial dragons, and celestial maidens danced and feasted in the void.

Except for Yang Jian, who could barely distinguish illusion from reality, the others, including Sheng Hua, were dumbfounded, unable to discern where to begin their attack. Fortunately, without an order from Little Zhang Daoist, the immortals of both sects merely flaunted their divine powers and abilities in the void without launching an actual assault on Peng Hua and the others. Thus, although Peng Hua and the others were surrounded by countless magnificent specters, they felt no immediate physical pressure.

A flash of blood-red light illuminated the scene, and Han Piao, who had been cultivating secretly within Peng Hua, finally revealed herself. Dressed in a red skirt, she was a head taller than she had been in the past, with skin as white as snow, possessing beauty capable of overturning nations. The Drought Fiend rested one hand on Peng Hua’s shoulder, squinting with a smile as she gazed at the illusions filling the sky.

“They all look… quite delicious? The two Buddhist Sages once proclaimed that slaughtering Brahmanical followers was meritorious. Today, this Granny can feast to her heart’s content!” Fierce light flashed in Han Piao’s eyes.

The way she looked at the Kunlun and Zhongnan disciples was like a starving wolf eyeing tender lambs, her eyes turning green. In the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness, Little Zhang Daoist and the other three conjured immeasurable numbers of demonic gods and saints, transforming into endless illusions designed to induce depravity, attacking the Monkey like a torrential storm. The void was filled with the most profound imprints of the Monkey’s life, manifesting scene after bizarre scene.

There were visions of a certain fair-skinned monk being cooked using a thousand culinary techniques—dishes like ‘Braised Monk Meat,’ ‘Monk Meat in Return Sauce,’ ‘Stir-fried Monk Liver Tips,’ and ‘Sautéed Monk Intestines’ constantly flashed before the Monkey. There were scenes of a certain pig-like, fat-headed monk being drained dry by countless female demons, displaying techniques such as ‘Old Man Pushes Cart,’ ‘Little Guanyin Sits on a Lotus,’ ‘Withered Vine Coiling,’ and ‘Mad Butterfly Dancing.’ The Sea of Consciousness echoed with the pig-headed monk’s agonizing yet ecstatic screams. There were scrolls depicting the torment of a dark-faced, bald-headed ascetic, with billions of hellish tortures being inflicted upon him; the ascetic also screamed in pain, as spectral flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Moreover, all sorts of bizarre sights constantly emerged, even the scene of the little monkeys on Flower Fruit Mountain being fried, steamed, and boiled when the Monkey was first born was vividly present. Under such an attack of mental illusions, an ordinary person’s primordial spirit would have collapsed and perished long ago. But the Monkey possessed the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda; the waves of Profound Yellow energy protected his true mind, and the bright light above his head grew ever more brilliant, completely unmoved by the external demons.

The attraction within the Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness grew stronger and stronger; the Buddha light emitted by the golden body grew ever more powerful; the Demon Subduing Sutra he chanted increased in might. The legions of shadow demons were constantly annihilated by the Buddha light and purple haze, much like pouring boiling water on snow, or splashing oil on rats; the shadow demons were relentlessly destroyed. The four Daoists, Little Zhang included, realized with dismay that the attraction generated by the Monkey, using the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda as a catalyst, was too immense.

The Monkey’s Sea of Consciousness had become a solid, golden fortress, compelling their primordial spirits and mental energies to attack with their full force. If they failed to destroy the Monkey, their mental essence would be trapped within his Sea of Consciousness, never to escape. The ceaseless, torrential mental attacks pounded forth, exaggerating scenes of danger and crisis from the Monkey’s life manifold.

On one side raged fire and seas of blood; on the other, beauties like jade—the demonic illusions lured with the utmost extremity. Considering the difference in cultivation between the Monkey and the four Daoists of Little Zhang, the intensity of the demonic attack the Monkey suffered was a hundred times greater than what the Buddha endured before attaining enlightenment. The Buddha of old possessed profound cultivation, and the cultivation of the attacking demons did not even approach the Buddha’s level.

But today, the ones enticing the Monkey with the same Brahmanical Demonic Arts possessed cultivation trillions of times superior to the Monkey’s, and they were working in concert. The Monkey relied on the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda to fiercely guard his heart and mind, constantly using the demon-subduing techniques of both Buddhism and Daoism to destroy the demons. Simultaneously, he took the terrifying risk of opening a small gap in the pagoda’s protective sphere, allowing a sliver of the demonic attack to reach his primordial spirit.

His innate primordial spirit shook violently like a candle flame in a hurricane, seemingly on the verge of extinction. The Monkey fiercely guarded his mind, continuously channeling Buddhist meditation techniques to strengthen his innate primordial spirit. The stronger the demon, the more stable and powerful his primordial spirit became.

The Monkey was actually employing the dangerous tactic of “offering his body to feed the demons,” using the mental attacks of Little Zhang Daoist and the other three to enhance his own primordial spirit. Any demon that was destroyed or purified by the Monkey’s innate primordial spirit had its contained essence of mental power absorbed entirely by the Monkey. His mind brightened, and his own cultivation rapidly increased.

Little Zhang Daoist and the others sensed that something was amiss, but by now, they felt like they were riding a maddened bull—they could not dismount. Their only recourse was to expend all their energy trying to destroy the Monkey. Vaguely, Little Zhang Daoist sensed that they had fallen into Gu Xie Chen’s scheme.

But even now, they could not grasp the full sequence of events—how Gu Xie Chen had manipulated them. Hidden in a spatial fissure, Gu Xie Chen was cackling, ceaselessly expending his vital essence blood to inscribe powerful, bizarre, and venomous Witchcraft runes. The rapid depletion of his vital essence made Gu Xie Chen’s hair look somewhat withered and yellow, but before him lay nearly a thousand runes from the Great Desolation Sutra, inscribed in a civilization that was vicious, relentless, and unfathomably mysterious.

These runes, glimmering with faint blood-light, tightly encased the small expanse of void where the four Daoists resided. All the witchcraft spells had linked to the four Daoists’ vital blood and soul auras. Even separated by trillions of light-years, with a mere thought from Gu Xie Chen, these runes could instantly pierce the void and strike the four, unleashing astonishing destructive power.

Currently, Gu Xie Chen and the four Daoists were separated by mere inches; he could reach their physical bodies with an outstretched hand, allowing him free rein. Using the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda alone to entrap four High-Grade Daluo Golden Immortals—Gu Xie Chen had grasped the weakness of the Brahmanical Mental Demonic Arts with absolute clarity. Except for the Daoists using direct magical force to engage Gu Xie Chen head-on, their method of using mental illusions to attack Gu Xie Chen was utterly ineffective and only led to his easy counter-control.

Gu Xie Chen possessed several supreme treasures capable of defending against inner demons: the Haotian Pagoda, the Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, the Five Directions Five Colors Flags, and even the Blazing Golden Lotus from a new outer universe that Peng Hua used for protection. Little Zhang Daoist had placed too much faith in the Brahmanical arts they practiced, and now they had perfectly stumbled into Gu Xie Chen’s trap. While casting the witchcraft, Gu Xie Chen was surprised to discover that the soul imprints of Little Zhang Daoist and the other three had been secretly marked by demonic arts, turning them into something akin to extensions or avatars of some powerful entity, merely retaining autonomous thought and action.

And the over one hundred thousand disciples of Kunlun and Zhongnan were similarly extensions controlled by the four Daoists. If the powerful entity controlling Little Zhang Daoist and the others were destroyed, all the disciples of Kunlun and Zhongnan would perish simultaneously. If any one of the four Daoists’ soul imprints was destroyed, a quarter of their disciples would perish with them.

The methods used by the Dharma-Protecting Heavens to control others through demonic arts were indeed unfathomably powerful. Gu Xie Chen chuckled inwardly, using his Wheel of Reincarnation Eye to clearly observe these connections between the souls, striking the runes precisely onto these hidden spiritual tethers.

The formidable entity had secretly controlled Xiao Zhang Daoren and the other three. While it could easily dictate their life and death, their demise would inevitably implicate the controlling entity in a significant way. Gu pondered which one possessed the means to plant such a hidden constraint.

Having expended half of his vital essence and blood, Gu Xichen’s appearance had devolved into that of a grizzled old man in his late fifties or sixties. He finally paused, gasping heavily for a sustained period. The sorcery detailed in the Great Wilderness Sutra possessed devastating power, but its consumption was enough to bring anyone to tears.

His figure swayed, and Gu Xichen's vision blurred abruptly; he could see multiple phantom outlines of his own fingers. The expenditure today was excessive, yet it was necessary to teach Xiao Zhang Daoren and his company a lesson, and to issue a stark warning to the Deva protectors of the Brahmin faith. He could afford no less concern now.

Cautiously, he retrieved the Pangu Banner, continuously pouring his magical power into it, inciting vast amounts of Chaos Qi to manifest as Chaos Sky-Opening Divine Thunder, which he then injected into those sorceries. He worried that the power of the hexes was insufficient, that their attack profile was too singular. Thus, he poured forth his utmost effort, desperate to amplify even a fraction of the curses' killing potential.

As a result, a full day and night passed.

The army of Deva protectors, led by Vishnu, already showed faint glimmers of light on the distant horizon, their killing intent surging directly toward this location.

Glancing over, it was impossible to count the sheer number of the Deva protector army. In the ancient epoch, when the Asura non-heaven faction attacked the various celestial deities, the deployed forces routinely numbered in the tens of billions. The Deva protectors had spent untold eons in quiet recuperation and growth since then—the current figures represented a force beyond immediate comprehension.

In short, the seven or eight star systems surrounding the Spiral Nebula were choked full of the vast Deva army. The measureless Deva forces roared like lions, surging forward like a tide toward this position.

Such an immense army comprised only the forces of the Asura and Yaksha divisions of the Deva protectors. One could only imagine the true strength the Deva now wielded. Leading the advance, riding his white bull into the fray, Vishnu, thoroughly complacent, waved the lotus vajra in his hand, ordering the Asuras and Yakshas to hasten their march—they were to utterly annihilate Gu Xichen and his party.

From a considerable distance, Vishnu, feeling somewhat guilty, bellowed out, "Evil Dragon Venerable Gu Xichen, Akshmi agreed not to pursue you, but I did not agree! So do not blame me for treachery!"

The clone that Gu Xichen had manifested using the Moon Water Mirror Illusion technique contorted his face until it was a mass of wrinkles. He spun around, pointed at Vishnu, and unleashed a torrent of curses: "You spew utter filth! If that's the case, then in the future, should you make an oath, must every single one of you take turns swearing before your word is considered reliable?"

Vishnu’s complexion flushed slightly. He grinned shamelessly, "It need not be that troublesome. If the promise is secured by the agreement of the Great Brahma, Shiva, and myself, then of course it will stand. Heh, you people won't have a future anyway!"

Gu Xichen had already deciphered the spiritual restrictions placed upon Xiao Zhang Daoren and his group. By secretly using methods to restrain the four of them and transform them into extensions of his own divine self, it was clearly evident that the entity responsible was Vishnu before him.

Good. You've delivered yourself right to my doorstep.

Excellent.

Gu Xichen’s Mirror Water Moon clone barked a command at Siren beside him. Siren’s Fate-Marking Sword, Xie Ke, flew into the clone’s hand.

A flash of ice crystal streaked through the air, and the Fate-Marking Sword vanished without a trace, reappearing an instant later in the hand of Gu Xichen’s primary body.

Over a thousand potent sorceries, each imbued with Chaos Sky-Opening Divine Thunder, abruptly materialized in the void. Like maggots burrowing into bone, they latched onto the bodies of Xiao Zhang Daoren and the other three, instantly blasting their physical forms into shattered, mangled ruins. A terrifying soul-devouring power from the curses traced the ethereal tether connecting them and instantly slammed down upon the over one hundred thousand disciples from Kunlun and Zhongnan.

Inside the bodies of the more than one hundred thousand Kunlun and Zhongnan immortals, a Chaos Sky-Opening Divine Thunder detonated. Caught completely unaware, they had no time to activate their protective arts to shield their internal organs; they were utterly pulverized into dust by the lightning flash.

Those immortals from the two sects whose Demonic Arts were profound and Daoist cultivation formidable managed to silently circulate their profound arts, forcefully reassembling their shattered flesh and limbs. Countless phantoms flickered in the void, and a strange, sweet fragrance wafted forth—it appeared these immortals were about to restore their true forms.

Han Ji burst into laughter, blood-red light erupting everywhere. Innumerable zombie fiends and demonic shadows swirled through the air, madly plundering the vital essence and blood of these two sects’ immortals.

Given Han Ji’s cultivation, Han Kui’s Daoist attainment, and the notorious, terrifying reputation of Han Mian throughout the Three Realms, the demonic arts of the Brahmins proved largely useless against her. All illusions and phantoms were shattered with a casual strike. Her fangs swept rapidly across the necks of the immortals, draining their vital essence completely—she did not even spare their very souls.

Han Ji cackled, dancing and stuffing handfuls of strong, pure souls into her mouth, chewing them with abandon.

With every soul she swallowed, Vishnu, who was rapidly leading his pursuing army, felt a sharp jolt in his heart, and a specific part of his body spasmed in sharp pain.

Vishnu panicked. He feared losing control over Xiao Zhang Daoren and the others. That was why he had used Brahmin secret arts to bind the Kunlun and Zhongnan immortals. While this granted him control over their life and death, it also established a certain spiritual tether between him and those immortals. Should these immortals all be annihilated, Vishnu himself was likely to fall gravely ill.

Furious and frustrated, Vishnu urgently ordered the army to increase its pace, but the sheer scale of the military made acceleration far from easy.

The Asuras and Yakshas, being particularly unruly, lacked any semblance of military discipline. When commanded to speed up, they merely laughed and began tumbling about in place. Vishnu’s eyes bulged with rage...

After unleashing those curses specifically designed to ravage the soul, Gu Xichen casually raised the Fate-Marking Sword and plunged it into the back of Xiao Zhang Daoren.

On the distant horizon, Vishnu suddenly spat out a stream of blood, and a transparent hole abruptly appeared in his chest. Even with Vishnu’s demonic power, cultivation, and Daoist attainment, the wound could not be healed, nor could the gushing blood be stopped.

Vishnu horrifyingly sensed the wisp of energy emanating from his injury—it was so ethereal, so intangible, seeming to possess the power to divine heavenly secrets and sever the fate-marks of everything in existence. Within this profound energy was also contained a life force so overwhelmingly potent it defied description.

"Fuxi Clan, the Progenitor Saint! Are they still in this realm?"

Vishnu violently coughed up another mouthful of blood, and without a second thought, spurred his white bull mount and fled. His eyes darted around wildly, all the while furiously cursing the entire family of Gu Xichen—the curses were extremely vile, utterly inconsistent with his status.

Seeing the immensely powerful Vishnu turning tail to flee, the Asura and Yaksha armies paused in stunned silence. Paya was the first to shake his hundreds of heads and wave his thousands of arms before turning and bolting. Immediately, the Deva army, vast as mountains and seas, scattered like startled birds with a sound like thunder, vanishing without a trace.

Gu Xichen, utilizing Xiao Zhang Daoren’s body, had struck Vishnu with the terrifying destructive force contained within the Fate-Marking Sword, but he too coughed up a mouthful of blood.

To activate the power latent in the Fate-Marking Sword, Gu Xichen had overdrafted ninety percent of his core vital essence and blood; if not for the subsequent action, he would have fainted right there.

Weakly, he retracted his clone and slumped limply into Peng Hua's arms.

"Too much trouble. Hurry and go! Tell the Monkey to move faster!"

In the void, the Monkey was emanating intense golden light, his magical power and Daoist realm rapidly ascending at a dizzying speed!

With one sword stroke, Gu Xichen had shattered the souls of Xiao Zhang Daoren and the other three. Their massive collective consciousness collapsed, entirely transforming into pure power that surged chaotically through the Monkey's Sea of Consciousness. What kind of temperament did the Monkey possess? He was the type to clean out a vault during a celebratory banquet. To him, the consciousness of the four—Xiao Zhang Daoren and the others—was nothing more than the finest nourishment. He immediately enacted his profound technique, drawing all that power into himself.

The massive consciousness of four late-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortals! The Monkey’s nascent spirit could not absorb such a quantity of power. He simply directed the overwhelming majority of it into his physical body, continuously strengthening his Indestructible Golden Shell.

Within the vast Sea of Consciousness belonging to the Monkey, four soul origins, flickering faintly like fireflies, trembled in fear.

The colossal golden Buddha form manifested by the Monkey’s nascent spirit brought a palm down toward these four origins of the soul.